On fifth anniversary of attacks, University remembers alumni victims

Five years after terrorists turned airplanes into missiles, cutting short the lives of nearly 3,000 Americans, including 13 alumni, the University commemorated their loss with an interfaith service Monday in the memorial garden next to Chancellor Green.

Family, friends, faculty and students gripped tissues and bowed their heads as speakers shared their experiences of that day and intoned the names of the 13 victims.

"We all have memories of that day and the accompanying emotions of shock, grief, confusion," Paul Raushenbush, associate dean of religious life, said.

But in this fifth year, there is a "shift of gears ... a passage of yearly remembrance into history," Dean of Religious Life Thomas Breidenthal said. "It marks a new cycle of dialogue about our differences."

Breidenthal called upon the audience to insist on being a community and practice the discipline of reverence for one another and for the stranger that seems far away.

Khalid Latif, the University's Muslim chaplain, delivered a message conveying the need for patience.

"It is important to understand that misfortune will befall all kinds of people no matter what their backgrounds are," he said. "A ceremony like this really demonstrates the importance of standing together and remembering the commonalities we have of brotherhood, respect and community."

Stephen White, a reverend who read from the Bible during the commemoration, shared his thoughts after the service.

"It was just a day of profound sadness," he said. "But along with that sadness was a feeling of blessing. I was standing next to the Muslim chaplain ... that we were all together was a sign of hope and of feeling."

The event inspired students to reflect on the attacks and their reactions to them. "Nine-eleven was probably the most important day in my life," Wes Morgan '10 said following the service. "It changed how I see the world. The service reminds me of what I decided that day and that is to act in the service of our nation."

The memorial garden was dedicated in September 2003. In the middle of a stone pathway, 13 stars, each engraved with the name of an alumnus victim of the 9/11 attacks, circle a pot of orange blossoms.

At the entrance of the garden stands a memorial bell that was rung during the service. The plaque beneath it reads, "Remembrance."